40 S&W lee bullet mold

[CRA]

It's my first time casting 40 S&W with the lee 175gn mold. I'm having some trouble with the head spacing and was wondering if anyone had a similar experience. I set some dummy rounds to 1.110 oal, which seems really short and the rim of the case still seemed to stick out past the barrel, not head spacing right, I think. I've reloaded with King's bullets and seated to 1.124 with no issue with seating. I'm reloading for a springfield xd, using 5.8 of power pistol. Anyone load for the springfield xd or use an OAL that short/shorter?
Thanks

[RedHawk357Mag]

I think you might have not removed all your expanding/belling of your brass. Alliant uses 1.120" for their data but not for your particular bullet but for different bullet weights. I would check as best as you can the diameter of your brass where the Brass and lead meet I think you will find the problem there. http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160629/00732bcd2839e770e852dd94564b01d9.jpg

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[DerekP Houston]

I made the mistake of not fully resizing my dummy rounds and had chambering issues with that exact size mold. Once I actually ran it through all stations (no powder or primer) it cycled just fine. I am out of town but will get the OAL with my calipers when I return. Mine are shot from a m&p 40 cal

[popper]

I think you are saying the case head sticks out past the lug. Just seat deeper. Front edge of the drive band sticks out ~ 20-30 mils fro the mouth. Load & crimp a dummy, if it doesn't fit, load another deeper, repeat. I'd reduce the load (drop a grain) of PP until you get a load that fits, then work up. I use 231 in my XDm 40. I keep a proper dummy in my die box set the die and check with calipers. Don't know what the OAL is, won't be the same as yours.

[Cottonpicker]

If you are seating boolits as cast, they may need to be sized to .401; my Lee mold casts slightly over, resulting in seating and chambering problems. Also, I taper crimp to .421 which should chamber easily in a properly sized case. 40 S&W cases sometimes need to be fully sized in a special case sizing die to remove bulging at the base of the brass when fired in barrels with unsupported chambers (like older Glock barrels). Any/all of the above can cause you trouble. The OAL of 1.10 should be fine for the Lee 175 gn boolit.

[CRA]

Thanks for all of the help guys. I size the boolits to .401 and I'm glad to hear that .421 is your crimp, that's what I do too. The OAL just worries me because of the amount of case space the PP takes up and then seating the boolit so deep. I looked at the old cast boolit I was using from King's and they are much more narrow at the cone than they lee cast. When I blunk test these even with 1.10 OAL it won't fall out too easy. I'm going to resize some more this afternoon and try again. If you have any other suggestions, keep them coming.

Also if I do go with a shorter OAL, how much do I reduce the powder by?

[rsrocket1]

Take a loaded round that doesn't pass the plunk test and color it completely with a magic marker including the bullet. Then drop it into the chamber and see where the ink rubs off. That will tell you where your problem is and you can correct it with proper sizing of the bullet, deeper seating, a better taper crimp or less expansion. You won't know what to fix until you find out what the cause is.

[45-70 Chevroner]

You also might want to check the diameter of the case just in front of the rim, you can sometimes get a little bulg in that area when seating the boolit.

[DerekP Houston]

You also might want to check the diameter of the case just in front of the rim, you can sometimes get a little bulg in that area when seating the boolit.

Ohh good point, or it could be the brass itself if you got "glock bulged" brass as once fired.

[popper]

I'm glad to hear that .421 is your crimp Makes absolutely NO difference to your gun. Neither does OAL. Different HS case thickness and COAL vary by brand. 401 for sizing is good. Just make some dummys with band edge at the mouth and others in 0.010" increments. Start with the shortest, stop when it won't go into battery and use the one before that. Load some more, cycle out of the mag. You do need a proper sized expander plug & Lee universal flaring tool. I use RCBS seater die and run them all the way up. NOE makes expander plugs that fit in the Lee flare tool. I use a cut down Lyman M die. I toss 'glocked' brass. Start a grain lower with PP and work up to when the primer is flat at the edge of the PP or you reach max jacket load. Marking a straight walled case to see where it binds is silly. I erred and loaded unsized cases - they chambered & shot fine. I do NOT recommend doing that.

[CRA]

Just trying to understand the proper fit. If it doesn't pass the plunk test but it does go into battery and eject properly, is that okay?

Popper, I'm not sure what the band edge is?

[popper]

Dividing line between drive/sized section and ogive. Problem with failing plunk test is some may not chamber - so you get to pogo a loaded round - or not get complete slide lockup when it fires. Pogo-ing is hard on the extractor, on the XD it is part of the slide IIRC?

[CRA]

I'm not sure what the slide IIRC is.

[dubber123]

I'm not sure what the slide IIRC is.

IIRC=If I Remember Correctly